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Dick Tracy
First Appearance: Sunday, October 4th, 1931. The star and hero of the long running comic strip, Dick Tracy is a symbol of Law & Order as well as being one of the world's most famous fictional detectives. Character Biography Dick Tracy was a typical bachelor in the early 1930s. He had a beautiful girlfriend, and was adapting to life during the depression. He was born in 1909. As a boy, Tracy had worked in his father's dog kennels, and as an adult he worked as a Navy diver in New York harbor (See "Notes" below for Tracy's eary career). Tragedy at the Truehearts' One night after Tess Trueheart's father Emil closed his deli for the evening, Tracy came over for dinner. Tracy was about to announce his plans to marry Tess when mobsters broke into the house and shot Emil Trueheart for the $1000 he had in his safe upstairs. The mobsters knocked Tracy out and abducted Tess, leaving Tracy stunned and Mrs. Trueheart in a state of shock. Over the body of his girlfriend's father, he swore that he would find Tess and bring Emil's murderers to justice. The mobsters turned out to be enforcers for Big Boy, a powerful crime boss. Chief Brandon recruited Tracy into the Plainclothes unit and Tracy proceeded to infiltrate Big Boy's operation, rescue Tess and brought the mobster to justice. Early Adventures Soon afterwards, Tracy adopted a young street urchin who later chose to call himself Dick Tracy Jr. Junior and Tracy's partner Pat Patton helped Tracy solve many crimes and encountered dozens of grotesque characters such as Pruneface, Flattop, B.B. Eyes, Shaky, the Mole, The Brow, Mrs. Pruneface, the Blank, Influence, Mumbles, and many others. It is not uncommon for Tracy to be targeted by relatives of his enemies seeking revenge. Early in his career, Tracy would often adopt some form of disguise and go undercover, but the approach was later abandoned in favor of more traditional police work and scientific investigation. In 1949, Chief Brandon retired and Pat Patton was promoted to Chief of Police at Tracy's recommendation. Tracy got a new parter in the freckle-faced, humorous Sam Catchem. Tracy and Tess were married around this time. Tracy endured several hardships during his extensive career, including hundreds of near death situations, injuries, and even a temporary divorce from Tess in the 1990's. City officials suspected at one time that Tracy was on the take because of his fancy car and big house, but these suspicions were unfounded. Tracy was able to prove that the car was a test model that he was testing for industrialist Diet Smith (which had special police features), and the money for his house had come from his thrifty saving during his bachelor years. International Travels Tracy has been on many adventures and in many different places around the world and beyond. He was stranded for weeks in an Island in the South Atlantic with a Scotland Yard police detective during an adventure that also took him to (pre-Communist) Cuba. Tracy has been to the Moon along with Diet Smith. Tracy has also solved cases in Hawaii, California, and Washington. For a while, he was drafted by President Reagan to participate in the government exchange program where he was sent to Russia as an observer of their law enforcement with the KGB. One of Tracy's earliest adventures was when Stooge Viller and Steve the Tramp followed Junior Tracy and his biological father Hank Steele to Halifax in Canada. Tracy has also been to the Florida Everglades in 1990 when B.O. Plenty's relative Holden Plenty was having problems with mobsters who were trying to buy off his land. Public Figure Tracy is the most decorated police officer in America and also known for having killed the most criminals in the line of duty. He is a celebrity, and is probably the best-known law-enforcement officer in the country, having the same level of name recognition as Elliot Ness or J.Edgar Hoover. As such, the happenings in personal life are often the subject of national news stories. He has inspired at least one feature film (in which Tracy acted as a consultant as well as portraying himself in some scenes), and also as a popular song by the singer Themesong. Tracy has had an antagonistic relationship with reporter Wendy Wichel, who often accuses Tracy of police brutality and using excessive force. Tracy respects Wichel's Fist Amendment rights, but disagrees with her assessment of his tactics. Technological Arsenal Tracy's squad has always been on the cutting edge of technology thanks to Tracy's friendship with billionaire industrialist Diet Smith, creator of the 2-Way Wrist Radio, 2-Way Wrist TV, 2-Way Wrist Computer, Wrist Wizard and Wrist Geenee. For a while, various pieces of Moon Technology were incorporated in Tracy's arsenal, but use of these devices was eventually discontinued. In 1978, Big Boy launched a million-dollar Open Contract on Tracy's life after Big Boy learned he only had six months to live. A few attempts were made on his life, but the collateral damage resulted in the deaths of two of the would-be killers Louie Small and Little Littel, and life of Moon Maid Tracy (Junior's wife). After a final attempt was made on Tracy's life, Tracy and Sam went to Big Boy's mansion with a warrant for his arrest. Big Boy's anger and lust for revenge caused a fatal heart attack before the police could get to him. The Tracy Agency During the period of time following the non-fatal shooting of Chief Pat Patton, Tracy quit the force at the behest of the interim Chief Climer who looked down upon Tracy as a "relic" and brutal image of Law enforcement's outdated beliefs. Tracy investigated Patton's shooting himself after he opened up his own Private Detective Agency along with Johnny Adonis. Patton's shooter was revealed and Tracy returned to the force. Tracy has occasionally been offered promotions, but he much prefers his position as Chief of Detectives and head of the Major Crimes Unit. Notes *In the early days of the strip, Tracy seemingly goes directly from being a civilian to working in the police department's plainclothes division. This would be an extremely unorthodox situation. A flashback story from the time of the strip's 80th Anniversary depicts Tracy as a uniformed police officer who had recently distinguished himself and gained Brandon's attention around the same time as the Emil Trueheart murder, thus prompting his promotion to plainclothes. This is logical, though the storyline was criticized by some fans who accused the modern creative team of dismissing Chester Gould's original story as "getting it wrong". *When asked, Dick Tracy identified his favorite comic strip as "Fearless Fosdick". *Dick Tracy was not a fan of the film "Sharky's Machine", saying he found it too violent. According to the strip's current writer Mike Curtis, Tracy's favorite "cop movie" is "Blade Runner". *Tracy expressed disdain for the science of oceanography, dismissing it as a "boondoggle". *Tracy is an avowed dog lover, but he is not opposed to animal testing for medical purposes, referring to it as a "necessary evil". *Dick Tracy has a rare blood type, a trait he has in common with Diet Smith. *In addition to signature yellow overcoat and fedora, tracy typically wears a black suit with a red, white, and black striped necktie. The lack of variety in his wardrobe has been remarked upon occasionally. *The Police Department also has a collection of at least 20 of Tracy's fedora hats that have been shot, crushed, or otherwise damaged in the line of duty. The earliest one is from 1931, and the collection includes hats shot by Stooge Viller, B-B Eyes, Flattop, Pruneface, and Chameleon. Casualty Report Among Tracy's many near or potentially fatal injuries are: *Hit on head with gun butt and struck on jaw with brass knuckles during Tess Trueheart kidnapping *Hit on head with suitcase of bricks (which would most likely have resulted in a concussion) then kidnapped and burned on right foot by Broadway Bates *Shot by Dan "The Squealer" Mucelli *Shot 4 times by FBI agents while posing as a member of Cut Famon's gang *Caught in an explosion on Stud Brozen's boat; knocked unconscious and nearly drowned; then nearly killed by compressed air by The Blank in a decompression chamber *Abducted by Jerome Trohs' gang and had his right hand crushed by Mamma *Kidnapped by the Black Pearl Erad gang and received a cut on left cheek, later suffered severe burns when trapped inside a tank during the same case *Shot in hip by Selbert Depool *Broken right leg when slipping on ice after leaving Bea Thorndike's house *Kidnapped and impaled with a spike by Mrs. Pruneface *Grazed in right side with a pistol by Flattop Jones *Stabbed in right shoulder by lightning rod thrown as a spear by The Brow. *Dragged on car bumper and set on fire by Measles *Poisoned by Breathless Mahoney. *Kidnapped and starved by Kitty (Mrs. B.B. Eyes) and Itchy Oliver *Shot in the arm/shoulder by Empty Williams *Nearly drowned after being shot with a high-powered rifle by Tonsils *Suffered malnutrition after being stranded on Granite Island by Miss Egghead and The Dropper *Suffered head trauma when knocked unconscious by Climer. *Frozen "dead" by Dr. Freezdrei but revived by Sam Catchem. *Struck over the head with a garbage can lid and knocked unconscious by Dr. E.N. Amuhni. Confirmed Kills Dick Tracy has a reputation for having killed more people in the line of duty than any other law enforcement officer in the United States of America. However, most of his notable adversaries have been died by other means, often at the hand of their criminal compatriots, in accidents and/or while attempting to escape capture. Below is partial list of Dick Tracy's confirmed kills. An asterisk (*) indicates an instance in which the criminal was killed during a shootout with several police officers, meaning that Tracy may not have been the actual person who fired the kill shot. *Crutch *Boss Jim Herrod* *Danny Supeena (died of gangrene as a result of a bullet wound from police)* *Stud Bronzen* *Cutie Diamond* *Zora Arson* *Spaldoni* *Jojo Nidle *Junky Doolb* *88 Keyes *Charlie (Flattop storyline) *Itchy Oliver *Sketch Paree *George Alpha and Judge Rulings* *Sticks Hepbeat *Oodles *Duo, Trey, & Quad Hardly* *Yolly Times, an assassin in the employ of Mr. Bribery *George Chin Chillar* *Mr. Intro & his associates *Unnamed accomplice of Mr. Litter *Unnamed assassin sent by Diamonds to kill Groovy Grove *Chameleon I *Duzzin Matta (Apparatus Hit-Man) *Mr. Barley* *Johnny Snow, aka the Iceman *Bardoll (thrown from the top of a tall building) Additionally, the Brow, Empty Williams, and Louis Small died as a result of actions that Tracy took, but in those cases it was clear that Tracy did not necessarily intend to employ deadly force. Known Relatives *Gordon Tracy (Brother) *Richard Tracy Sr. (Father; deceased) *Tess Tracy (Wife) *Emil Trueheart (father-in-law, deceased) *Mrs. Trueheart (mother-in-law) *Dick Tracy Jr. aka "Junior Tracy". (Adoptive Son) *Bonnie Braids Tracy (Daughter) *Joe Tracy (Son) *Moon Maid Tracy (Daughter-in-law; Deceased) *Sparkle Plenty (Daughter-in-Law) *Honey Tracy (granddaughter via Junior) *Jewel Tracy (granddaughter via Junior) *B.O. Plenty (brother-in-law) *Gertrude "Gravel Gertie" Plenty (sister-in-law) Known Associates ("Partner" indicates fellow squad member) *Sam Catchem (Partner) *Pat Patton (Former Partner, Chief) *Johnny Adonis (Ex-Partner) *Lizz (Partner, Former Chief) *Lee Ebony (Partner) *Lt. Teevo (Partner: replacement for Lizz, Deceased) *Det. Frisk (Partner, Missing, Presumed Deceased) *Jim Trailer (FBI Liason) *Agent Kelley (FBI Liason) *Lottie Latte (FBI Liason) *Diet Smith (Technology supplier/friend) *Groovy Grove (Partner, Deceased) *Chief Brandon (Former Chief) Appearances In Other Media |thumb|right|200px]] |thumb|right|200px]] 'Film' Serials *1937 - Dick Tracy, 15 part serial starring Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy *1938 - Dick Tracy Returns, 15 part serial starring Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy *1939 - Dick Tracy's G-Men, 15 part serial starring Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy *1941 - Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc., 15 part serial starring Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy Features *1945 - Dick Tracy, starring Morgan Conway as Dick Tracy *1946 - Dick Tracy vs. Cueball, starring Morgan Conway as Dick Tracy *1947 - Dick Tracy's Dilemma, starring Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy *1947 - Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome, starring Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy *1990 - Dick Tracy starring Warren Beatty as Dick Tracy 'On Television' *1950 - Dick Tracy, starring Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy *1961 - The Dick Tracy Show, animated series featuring Everett Sloane as Dick Tracy *1964 - The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo - animated series featuring Everett Sloane as Dick Tracy *1967 - Dick Tracy (pilot for unproduced live-action TV series) starring Ray MacDonnell as Dick Tracy *1971 - Archie's TV Funnies, animated series featuring John Erwin as Dick Tracy 'On Radio & Other Audio' *1934 - Dick Tracy, starring Bob Burlen, Barry Thompson, Ned Wever & Matt Crowley as Dick Tracy *1945 - Dick Tracy in B-Flat, starring Bing Crosby as Dick Tracy *1947 - Dick Tracy, two-record set featuring Jim Ameche as Dick Tracy *1990 - Dick Tracy, audiobook of the Max Allan Collins novelization, read by James Keane *1990 - Dick Tracy: Big Boy Turns Up the Heat, movie tie-in "read-along" featuring Charles Howerton as Dick Tracy *1990 - Dick Tracy: Everything Comes Up Blank, movie tie-in "read-along" featuring Charles Howerton as Dick Tracy 'Print Media' *In 1966 Tracy appeared as a spokesman in Popular Mechanics/Readers Digest magazines for an autolite and battery manufacuter. Among the criminals captured by Tracy were Chuck Hole, Piston Puss, Rod Bender, & Miss Fire. *2 follow-up novels to the 1990 Dick Tracy feature film were published- "Dick Tracy Goes to War" and "Dick Tracy Meets his Match", both written by Max Allan Collins. Category:Police Officers Category:Movie Characters